Oral Answers to Questions

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Wednesday 20th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What we are doing is ensuring that we keep the costs of heating down with the price cap. We have increased the warm homes allowance by £150 for 780,000 homes. We have just given local councils another half a billion pounds to help poorer families over the winter. The most important thing that is happening in this country is that wages are going up. There is a huge jobs boom now, thanks to the policies that this Government have pursued.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

Q13. I am sure my right hon. Friend would agree that homeless people should be assisted and not arrested. The review of the repeal of the Vagrancy Act 1824 has now been concluded. Does he agree with me, therefore, that it is now time that the amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which are being considered in the other place, should be adopted so that we can consign the Vagrancy Act to the history books forever and give the police the powers that they need to combat trespass, aggressive begging and other antisocial behaviour?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is a passionate campaigner on this issue and he has done a lot of good things in this area. No one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live, and I think the time has come to reconsider the Vagrancy Act—and also to redouble our efforts to fight homelessness, as I think we have done successfully over the pandemic but must continue to do.